Ewan's political views can of course be no surprise considering his upbringing. An early memory, from when he was 9, poignantly related in Journeyman, was of his father Will, on the day of Lenin's death, sitting before the fire weeping inconsolably for hours. He remained faithful to this environment, but did not, as did some, attempt to defend retrospectively the iniquities of Stalinism when they became known.